Device for inspecting panty hose



' Filed Aug. 26, 1968 FIG. 3

Oct. 7, 1969 c. A. FOREMAN 3,471,068

DEVICE FOR INSPECTING PANTY HOSE 2 Sheets-Sheet l mu A,

Minn.

-INVENTOR CALEY A. FOREMAN ATTORNEYS Oct. 7, 1969 c. A. FOREMAN 3,471,063

DEVICE FOR INSPECTING PANTY HOSE Filed Aug. 26, 1.968 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LFIG.2

4?zj"" f 44 -mnuu INVENTOR CALEY' A. FOREMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent Int. Cl. G011 /04 US. Cl. 223-61 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for inspecting panty hose which comprises two flat leg forms pivotally mounted at the bases thereof together with power-actuated means for separating the forms and power-actuated means for raising and lowering the forms as a unit, whereby panty hose may be readily placed on the forms and the forms raised by power to a position to render inspection, especially of the crotch area, easy. Additionally, due to the fact that power means spread the forms about their pivotal lower ends after they are raised to an upper position, the seams between the leg portions and the crotch insert are readily inspected and are inspected under conditions which can be made uniform at the various inspection stations, since the power for spreading the forms can be adjusted. Arrangements are made so that after the inspection unit is raised as a unit to the inspection position, the entire form may be rotated so that inspection is made even more simple.

In the past, panty hose inspection devices have consisted primarily of two vertical leg forms arranged so that two forms could be pivoted manually away from each other to exert pressure on the seams and to allow for a considerable degree of visibility of the crotch area. Such an arrangement, however, required that the two forms be manually held apart against the pressure of springs and did not provide a freedom of use of the hands and consequently precluded the minor repair which can frequently be effected if the inspector isable to have both hands free to eliminate partial snags and the like. Further, these forms were in a fixed position with respect to the height thereof and therefore inspection of both the panty portion and the leg and foot portions of the garments was difficult.

By my present invention the panty forms are mounted as a unit for vertical adjustment and are rotatable when the unit is at its upper limit of adjustment. The forms are also, as indicated above, pivotally mounted at their lower ends so that they may be spread apart, but this is done under power to assure uniformity as between devices placed on the single form unit and also to provide for uniformity as between inspection stations.-Furthermore, the form unit is rendered non-spreadable when its position is other than at the maximum height, and thereby accidents resulting from power operation to spread the forms when those forms are in a lower position, are avoided.

Some of the objects and features of the invention are apparent from the foregoing description; others will become apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the panty hose inspection device of my invention, the device being shown in full lines in its upper position and fragmentarily in dotted lines in its lower position; V 7

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the device of FIG. 1 showing that device with a panty hose garment placed on the inspection forms; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2, showing particularly certain camming control means.

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Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the panty hose inspection device of my invention comprises a pair of leg forms 10 and 11, which are flat boards, each of which is pivoted at its lower end for oscillation about a respective shaft 12 or 13. The shafts 12 and 13 are mounted by means of the brackets 14 and 15 on the plate or disc 16, which is in turn fixed to vertically extending hollow shaft 17.

Hollow shaft 17 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 18 which is fixed between the spaced plates 20, which plates are integral with a channel member 21. Channel member 21 is pivotally mounted as by means of the screws 22 to the arms 23 and 24 of a pantograph mechanism, the opposite ends of the arms 23 and 24 being pivotally mounted by means of screws such as 25 to a vertical support member 26.

Forms 10 and 11 are held in their vertical position in any suitable manner, as for example by means of spring 27 stretched between the two leg forms adjacent their lower ends, or if preferred, by torsion hinge springs not shown. Extending between the forms 10 and 11, also adjacent their lower ends, is an air or hydraulic cylinder 28 having a piston rod 32, the cylinder being fixed through the medium of a clevis pin 30 and bracket 31 to the leg form 10, and the piston rod 32 being similarly connected by means of a clevis pin 33 and bracket 34 to the other leg form 11.

It will be obvious that the spring 27 normally holds the leg forms in their vertical position, the forms being forced apart a distance which may be predetermined by determining the stroke of the piston and the cylinder 28.

It will of course be obvious from the preceding description that the forms and spreading mechanism as a unit may be rotated manually so that all sides of the garment may be inspected and worked on.

In order to assure that the leg forms not be spread apart when the form as a unit is so oriented as to cause spreading in a front and rear plane and to thus endanger or inconvenience the operator, cam means are provided to prevent admission of pressure fluid to the cylinder 28 except when the form is oriented so that the spreading action takes place from side to side. This cam means comprises a generally rectangular supporting plate 34 which is fixed to the undersurface of the plate or disc 16 and thus fixed to rotate with that plate and with shaft 17. Fixed to either end of the plate 34 is an arcuate member 35, the undersurfaces of these arcuate members being formed as camming surfaces as clearly seen in FIG. 1.

Pressure fluid is supplied to the cylinder 28 through the line 36 which passes through the hollow shaft 17 and is connected by means of the swivel connection 37 to an air supply line 38. Valve 40 is mounted in the air supply line 38 ahead of the swivel connection 37, the valve operator being positioned to be actuated by the camming surfaces 35, thus as indicated above, preventing flow of pressure fluid to cylinder 28 when the forms are oriented for spreading fore and aft. As will shortly appear, the pressure fluid arrangement is such that the forms, when once spread, are maintained in that position until manually controlled to return to their initial vertical position, but are prevented from assuming their spread position until they have been elevated and thus until the danger of the opening forms striking the operator is averted.

The pantograph arrangement comprising the channel or link 21' and pantograph arms 23 and 24 is operated by means of a pressure fluid cylinder 41 joined by a clevis pin to a base 42, the piston rod 43 being in turn pivotally connected to the upper arms 23 of the pantograph arrangement.

A foot pedal control 44 is provided and mounted on the base element 42, this control being of the type which remains in a particular position until actuated in the reverse direction. A fluid pressure line extends from a pressure source through the pedal control valve 44 and thence to the cylinder 41 and through the valve 40 to the cylinder 28. Thus actuation of the control pedal for valve 44 in one direction causes the pantograph arrangement to be moved from the dotted line position of FIG. 1 to the full line position of that figure, and simultaneously the forms 10 and 11 are spread apart if those forms are oriented for spreading from side to side. However, if the forms are so oriented that the spreading would be from front to rear, the valve 40 is operated by the cams 35 to prevent the spreading action, and in this case the spreading is delayed until the operator has rotated the forms into the side position, at which time valve 40 opens and permits pressure fluid to flow to cylinder 28. Pressure continues to be applied to hold the pantograph in its upper position and to hold the forms spread apart until the foot pedal control valve 44 is actuated to its other position, at which time air is exhausted from the system, the pantograph operated to its lower position, and the forms closed. Flow control valves may be utilized in the lines to the cylinders 41 and 28 so that the rate of operation of the pantograph and the spreading cylinder 28 may be independently adjusted. Additionally, the pressure to the system may be regulated in order that all inspection devices may be identically adjusted to thereby stretch the garments inspected, equally, and provide for uniformity of inspection conditions.

As will be readily seen from the above, the device is particularly adapted to the inspection of panty hose, since the operator may place the upper portion of the panty hose on the extremities of the forms and then operate the foot pedal, which will cause the forms to rise, so that the operator need only hold those upper ends in vertical position and the forms will rise into the leg portions thereof, at the same time spreading the garment to a predetermined degree and with a predetermined force to thereby stretch the garment to a desired extent, especially the seam which is utilized between the leg portions and adjacent portions of a crotch insert. Moreover, after the form has been elevated and the leg portions spread apart as indicated, the operator may rotate the form through a full 360 so that all portions may be inspected. Additionally, the operator has both hands free and may effect repair of such defects as partial snags and the like. When the inspection has been completed, the operator can remove the garment from the form without substantial effort, since he can hold the garment in the vertical position while the foot pedal is actuated to cause the forms to lower, so that the garment will be in a large measure removed by the movement of the forms, and only a slight movement of the garment upwardly after the form has completely descended is required.

Since panty hose are relatively long it is very difiicult for operators to use fixed inspection forms and particularly fixed inspection forms which are pivotally mounted for spreading of the garment to inspect the crotch area. Furthermore, as indicated above, when such manually spread forms are utilized, there is no standard of stress placed on the garment, so that the inspection does not in reality establish any standard for the seaming work, and varies with a single operator and even more so as between the inspection work of a plurality of operators. It is of course additionally virtually impossible for an operator to inspect the garment at the same time that the forms are manually spread, and to maintain the pressure constant during the complete inspection.

While I have described a preferred form of my invention, it will be obvious that many variations are possible,

as for example the substitution of a direct pressure fluid lifting cylinder for a pantograph arrangement; the substitution of a pair of cylinder-piston combinations for the single spreading cylinder; and various substitutions for the control valves.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for inspecting panty hose and the like, comprising, in combination, a pair of generally vertically extending leg forms pivotally mounted at spaced points on a common base for movement of the upper ends thereof .toward and away from each other, means normally retaining said forms in vertical position with the forms generally in parallel planes, power means for pivoting said forms about said pivotal mounting toward and away from each other to thereby spread panty hose placed thereon, and control means for actuating said power means.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said common base is mounted for vertical reciprocation, a second power 20 means is provided for causing movement of said base in either direction, and wherein said control means also controls said second power means.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said base is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis.

4. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said common base is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and wherein a second control means is provided, said second control means permitting operation of said first power means only when said common base is in a predetermined position of rotation about its axis, said base having an actuator for said second control means mounted thereon.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said mounting of said base for vertical reciprocation comprises a pair of pantograph arms pivotally connected to said common base and pivotally connected to a fixed support.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said first and second power-operated means are pressure fluid actuated cylinders and pistons and said first and second control means are pressure fluid control valves, said first control means is foot-actuated, and said base actuator comprises cams fixed to said base and cooperating with said second valve to permit opening thereof only when said common base is in predetermined angular position.

7. A device asclaimed in claim 6 wherein said footactuated control valve directly controls admission of pressure fluid to said second power-operated means and wherein said foot-actuated valve cooperates with said cam-operated valve to admit pressure fluid to said first power means whereby spreading of said leg forms can occur only when said common base and forms are rotated into a predetermined range of angular position, said spreading normally occurring during elevation of said common base and being delayed until the forms are properly oriented.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,595,515 8/1926 Hammes 73-7 XR 2,067,863 1/1937 Simon 73-7 2,104,111 1/1938 Barnett 223-61 2,120,219 6/1938 Murray 223-77 2,675,703 4/1954 Hammerich et al 73-159 3,273,765 9/1966 Piilola 223-72 XR 65 LOUIS R. PRINCE, Primary Examiner W. A. HENRY, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 223-72; 73-159 

